United Church of God

Self Control

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Self Control

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Self Control

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Have you been raised in an environment of self-control or lack of self-control? Self-control is given as one of the examples of the fruits of Holy Spirit. A gift from God that must be exercised and built like a muscle. Self Control helps us moderate our actions, thoughts, feelings, appetites, and passions.

Sermon Notes

Have you been raised in an environment of self-control or lack of self-control?

Self-control is given as one of the examples of the fruits of Holy Spirit.

Galatians:5:22

Galatians:5:23

From Merriam Webster.com  
Temperance
1.  moderation in action, thought, or feeling: restraint
2.  A: habitual moderation in the indulgence of the appetites or passions  
     B: moderation in or abstinence from the use of alcoholic beverages
Restraint
1 A: an act of restraining: the state of being restrained
   B: (1): a means of restraining: a restraining force or influence
        (2): a device that restricts movement <a restraint for children riding in cars>

Statement of Facts
FACT: 2 Peter:1:3.
2 Peter:1:4
2 Peter:1:5
2 Peter:1:6

2 Peter:1:7

That knowledge leads to self-control
Knowledge from ginosko- to intimately know
AS We actively participate –AS we partake- in the Divine nature –
WE BECOME IMITATORS OF CHRIST
And escape the corruption that surrounds us.
This Corruption – wearing down- begs us, markets to us, temps us
to let loose of restraint and self-control – temperance
We indulge in our – flesh and breathe- we lose control
On the Path or walk of the Divine nature is Knowledge that leads to Self-Control

The scientific community is increasingly coming to realize how important and essential
self-control is to many important life outcomes. It is a core personality trait

We have always known about the impact of one’s socioeconomic status Or IQ (intelligence quotient) to a person’s life.

We may have been born poor or middle class, and of Average brain power where an education just makes the best of what is available. These are factors that are highly resistant to interventions – such interventions; An Ivy league education, or engineering breakthrough that propels a person to unheard of fame and wealth are rare and do not happen to many but only a few.

In contrast, self-control may be something that Everyone can tap into to make sweeping improvements life outcomes.
If you think about the environment we live in, you will notice how it is essentially designed to challenge every effort of our self-control.

Several decades ago, Walter Mischel an American psychologist specializing in personality theory and social psychology started investigating the determinants of delayed gratification in children. He found that the degree of self-control independently exerted by preschoolers who were tempted with small rewards (but told they could receive larger rewards if they resisted) is predictive of grades and social competence in adolescence.
In this study, the researchers followed 1,000 children for 30 years, examining the effect of early self-control on health, wealth and public safety.

Controlling for socioeconomic status and IQ, they show that individuals with lower self-control experienced negative outcomes in many areas.
1.Greater rates of health issues like sexually transmitted infections, substance dependence,
2.Financial problems including poor credit and lack of savings,
3. Single-parent child-rearing, and even crime
Proverbs:25:28

Impulsive and wanting instant gratification
These results show that self-control can have a deep influence on a wide range of activities.  And there is some good news: if we can find a way to improve self-control, maybe we could do better.
The kids who were better at self-control were able to control, and actively reduce, how tempted they were by the immediate rewards in their environment.
They became better at coming up with ways to distract themselves.
And this way avoid acting on their temptation.
The children most successful at delaying rewards spontaneously created strategies to help them resist temptations.
Some children sat on their hands, physically restraining themselves.
Others tried to redirect their attention by singing, talking or looking away, or pulling on their pigtails.
Moreover, Mischel found that all children were better at delaying rewards when distracting thoughts were suggested to them.
If this is indeed the case, this is good news because it is probably much easier to teach people behavior –character modification- to deal with self-control issues than to train them with a Obi-Wan Kenobi  Star Wars Jedi Knight, -like ability to avoid experiencing temptation.
Self-control is like a muscle that gets tired when not fed or rested.
Self-control resembles a muscle in more ways than one. Not only does it show fatigue, in the sense that it seems to lose power right after being used, it also gets stronger after exercise. (The fatigue effect is immediate; the strengthening is delayed, just like with muscular exercise.)
People may start the day fresh and rested, but as they exert self-control over the course of the day, their powers may diminish. Many researchers have observed that self-control tends to break down late in the day, especially if it has been a demanding or stressful day.
Most diets are broken in the evening, sexual misdeeds and addictive relapses occur at the end of long and demanding days.
Self-control requires physical exertion.
It is thought the brain must have sufficient glucose levels to have adequate self-control. Drinking alcohol, for example, reduces the brain’s glucose level, and may compound self-control issues when drinking.
Self-control is what people use to restrain their desires and impulses. It may be understood as the capacity to override one response (and substitute another).
We may call self-control ‘self-regulation’, a term preferred by many researchers because of its greater precision. To regulate is to change; namely, change in the direction
of some standard, some idea about how something could or should be. Self-regulation thus means changing responses based on some rule, value or ideal. (Divine Nature)
What does not work
The evidence from willpower-depletion studies also suggests that making a list of resolutions on New Year’s Eve is the worst possible approach.
Being depleted in one area can reduce willpower in others, so it makes more sense to focus on one goal at a time.
In other words, don’t try to quit smoking, adopt a healthy diet and start a new exercise plan at the same time.
Taking goals one by one is a better approach. Once a good habit is in place you may no longer need to draw on your willpower to maintain the behavior. Eventually, healthy habits will become routine and won’t require making decisions at all.
Self-control –perseverance- Godliness

Many questions about the nature of self-control remain to be answered by further research. Yet it seems likely that with clear goals, good self-monitoring and a little practice, you can train your willpower to stay strong in the face of temptation.

We may live in an environment that lacks of self-control, but

Self-control is one of the fruits of Holy Spirit.

A gift from God that must be exercised and built like a muscle

Self Control helps us moderate our actions, thoughts, feelings, appetites, and passions:  it is self-restraint or self-regulation.

Best done one goal at a time until the self-control becomes perseverance and habit
2 Peter:1:3

2 Peter:1:5

2 Peter 1:6

2 Peter 1:7

Proverbs:25:28